New European Regulation for ‘Organic Wine” (it’s about time). Adoption des nouvelles règles de l’UE pour le «vin biologique»

On February 8, 2012, the EU agreed on new regulations for “Organic Wine.”  Long story short, starting harvest 2012, EU winemakers will have to make certain changes in order to use the “organic wine” label, except of course for smaller winemakers who already produce wines that fit into this new category.  The new rules really impact the bigger, industrial winemakers.

Is this new regulation good or bad for the real Organic winemaker?  Does it actually just provide a way for the big wine industry to access a new market: Organic Wine.

The new regulations are a big step forward for organic wine – no one can ignore organic wine anymore.  But the light at the end of the tunnel is still pretty far away, as the regulation will allow certain practices that many consider not in keeping with Organic wine production, such as reverse osmosis, heat treatments, hard filtrations, the use of cultivated yeasts, and high levels of sulfites (less than conventional but still pretty high).  More concerning, the giants of the wine industry will now be able to reach a new market and mislead customer opinions about organic wines.

Excerpt from http://ec.europa.eu:

“So the new rules have the advantage of improved transparency and better consumer recognition. They will not only help to facilitate the internal market, but also to strengthen the position of EU organic wines at international level, since many other wine producing countries (USA, Chile, Australia, South Africa) have already established standards for organic wines. With this piece of legislation, the EU organic farming is now complete and covers all agricultural products.

Before it was: There are no EU rules or definition of “Organic wine”. Only grapes can be certified organic and only the mention “wine made from organic grapes” is currently allowed.

Now it is: The new rules on organic wine-making rules introduces a technical definition of organic wine which is consistent with the organic objective and principles as laid down in Council Regulation Organic production. The regulation identifies oenological techniques and substances to be authorized for organic wine. These include: maximum sulphite content set at 100 mg per litre for red wine (150 mg/l for conventional) and 150mg/l for white/rosé (200 mg/l for conventional), with a 30mg/l differential where the residual sugar content is more than 2g per litre.Sorbic acid and desulfurication will not be allowed and the level of sulphites in organic wine must be at least 30-50 mg per litre lower than their conventional equivalent (depending on the residual sugar content).

Other than this subset of specifications, the general wine-making rules defined in the Wine CMO regulation will also apply. As well as these wine-making practices, “organic wine” must of course also be produced using organic grapes.”

En Francais. 

In Italiano.

If you want to know what organic winemaker think about the new rules click here (en Francais seulement)

Check the video interview of 4 organic winemakers giving their opinion of the subject. Merci a Emmanuel, Alain, Chad et Helena.

2012

Happy New Year and 2012 be filled with good wine.

The 2011 Harvest has ended (at least in France).

After a few emails and phone calls to friends in France, we were happy to find a nice, small domaine that was willing to let us work the harvest AND videotape the entire process.  Our goal was to better understand the harvest experience at a vineyard that practices biodynamic agriculture.

For comparison and research purposes, Director Marcarthur also worked the harvest in a conventional domaine, Domaine Sorine et Fils, in Cheilly-les Maranges, then had one day off before starting the harvest at the organic domaine at Sampigny les Maranges.  (To this day, his back still hurts).

In September 2011, we arrived at this lovely domaine in Burgundy called Domaine des Rouges Queues, located in the town of Sampigny les Maranges.

Jean-Yves and Isabelle Vantey, the winemakers and owners of Rouges Queues, were incredibly welcoming and enthusiastic about the taping of the harvest. We started on a Saturday and ended on Wednesday.  We spent a few hours of each day videotaping among the vines, as well as around the domaine.

Our harvest team was small — eleven cutters and two carriers, including the owner.  Among the crew, there were students from Dijon, local residents, a rollerblade skater/videographer, and one comedian who provided a jovial ambiance at all times.

Most of the grapes that we picked were pinot noir, as well as chardonnay and aligote.  All of the vines were green, surrounded by colorful flowers, as well as a multitude of spiders, and other annoying plants such as thistle and “pignolos”.

The grapes were “bien mure” — ripe and full of life, ready to be made into a good wine.

A typical day started at 8am sharp in the vinyards.  We paused for a little snack at 9am (chocolate, cheeses, sausisons, fruits, coffee, tea, and of course wine).  Worked again until noon, then returned to the domaine for a two hour lunch break.  A wonderfully delicious lunch (way too much food!) was prepared each day by Chef Isabel, paired with wines made by Jean-Yves and Isabelle.  At 2pm, we worked again in the vineyard, took a small break at 4pm (les quatre heures), and finished by 6pm.

On the third harvesting day, we picked grapes in a small biodynamic parcel located directly next to a conventional section of vines. The contrast between these two agricultural plots of land was starkly evident, as you’ll see on the video clip. One is green, with flowers and a variety of natural weeds living in harmony with the vines, while the other side was completely barren, no weeds, no insects, nothing at all, but these sad vines looking almost dead (reminded us of a desert landscape).  We also notice that the soil was packed down almost a foot deeper than the lively organic soil of Rouges Queues. This provided us with one of the best visual examples of the important difference between organic and conventional grapes that are grown using pesticides and herbicides.

It was a real pleasure for us to be part of the Rouges Queues team; each day was full of learning and tasting.

We also very much enjoyed the early morning drive through the countryside, from the tiny village of St Sernin du Bois to the town of Sampigny.  It was a 30 minute drive via the canal du Centre, which William insisted on taking each morning (but Marcarthur thinks it’s faster via the town of Couch).

Driving at 6am through the foggy, cool landscape was refreshing and inspiring, as we watched ancient castles appear and disappear in the distance, miles and miles of vineyards passing by, and nature awaken with the sunrise.

Check out highlights of our adventures in the Harvest video, which includes an interview with Jean-Yves Vantey (in French, apologies to our non-French speakers).

Thanks to Jean-Yves, Isabelle, William, and the entire harvest team at Domaine Rouges Queues.

Article about labeling & Sulfites information (in French)

From the BioAddict website.

The label “Vin issu de l’Agriculture biologique” should be voided and replaced by “Vin Bio.” Except that this new label will be used only for wines made from Bio (organic) grapes and through Bio vinification methods (which is more appropriate since all steps of winemaking must be bio to have a “vin bio”).

Here is the short article (in French) Labeling in Europe

Also from BioAddict:

“Attention aux sulfites :

Les sulfites (SO2) sont des composés chimiques dérivés du soufre. On les retrouve en quantité plus ou moins importante dans les vins. En effet, le SO2 est donc avant tout un conservateur, un antiseptique, qui permet au vinificateur de maîtriser la flore microbienne du vin (et donc, que celui-ci ne se transforme en vinaigre!).

Problème : ils peuvent s’avérer dangereux à forte dose (maux de tête, troubles intestinaux…). Certaines personnes peuvent développer une réaction inflammatoire lorsqu’elles consomment une certaine quantité de sulfites, généralement dans la demi-heure après l’ingestion.

Les sulfites sont identifiables sur les emballages des produits alimentaires sous ces dénominations:
E 220 : Anhydride sulfureux
E 221 : Sulfite de sodium
E 222 : Sulfite acide de sodium
E 223 : Disulfite de sodium
E 224 : Disulfite de potassium
E 226 : Sulfite de calcium
E 227 : Sulfite acide de calcium
E 228 : Sulfite acide de potassium”

Harvest 2011

Happy End of Harvest!

We just returned from Burgundy, France, where we videotaped the harvest in the beautiful town of Sampigny-Les-Maranges, at the lovely Domaine Rouges Queues (Jean-Yves and Isabelle Vantey).

We actually worked the harvest, or at least Marcarthur and William (from our production team) did. William has been doing the harvest every season since he was a teen. The last time Marcarthur did the harvest was 12 years ago, when he still lived in Burgundy.  He forgot just how hard and exhausting it was…now his back is shaped like a question mark…(?), but no regrets because he had a great time. Marcathur harvested three days at the Domaine Sorine et Fils at Cheilly-Les-Maranges (a conventional domaine) and then five days at Domaine Rouges Queues (a biodynamic domaine)

Anyways, we had a great time and everyone was very supportive of our documentary taping.  We took amazing shots of the early morning harvest in a misty landscape covered with la rosee, and a great interview of Jean-Yves telling us all about his Domaine and the 2011 harvest.

A short clip video will be edited soon for you to watch!

Aside from the documentary, we wanted to share a few things we did on the trip… First of all, the food. We enjoyed some amazing cheese, fresh from the farm, goat cheese in particular. There is this farm – well actually there are a lot of farms surrounding the small village where we stayed, St. Sernin du Bois, Marcarthur’s hometown.  But as we were saying, there is this farm in St. Sernin where you can get fresh goat cheese if you arrive early in the morning.  The cheese is so fresh you can eat it with a spoon, like a yogurt.  Another cheese we loved was the EPOISSE CLOCHE, which is different from the traditional Epoisse.  It is hard to find, so if you can get your hands on one, buy it!  Other delices… we ate ripe apples and pears directly from the trees outside our home, and made them into different kinds of pie.

And of course, the wine…  we drank wine “a gogo”, many Santenay and Hautes-Cotes de Beaune, but the one that will end up on our menu is the 2008 Maranges from Domaine Rouges Queues.  “Que du plaisir”.

Here are some pictures from France.

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{France trip Part IV} Meet the winemakers: Francois Duvivier From Domaine Marquis d’Angerville

Driving north from Beaujolais, we stop at the BURGUNDIA Oenology Laboratory in Beaune.  The owner and founder, Kyriakos Kynigopoulos (a well-regarded figure in the world of Burgundy wines) greets us and gives a tour of his brand new lab, explaining their work.  Kyriakos Kynigopoulos and his team advise winemakers from the harvest to the bottle, they provide official analysis for appellations certified by the French government or requiring certificate of exportation, and they also suggest oenological products (EXELCIA).

During our discussion, Kyriakos inquires as to whether we might want to visit the Domain du Marquis d’Angerville, which transitioned it’s vineyards to biodynamie.  We get back on the road, heading in the direction of Volnay (just south of Beaune), to interview Francois Duvivier, Chef de Vigne/manager au Domaine D’Angerville.

The Domaine is beautiful, set on the hillside of the small village of Volnay.  An old mansion dominates the vineyard, and attached, is the famous “Clos des Ducs” (Volnay 1er cru).

Guillaume d’Angerville, the owner, is unable to speak to us on such short notice, so Francois Duvivier warmly welcomes us, and shows us the property, vineyard, and cellar, where we conduct the interview. Francois has been working at the domaine since 2005, with the goal of converting the entire vineyard to be biodynamic.  He is very friendly, and explains to us the new philosophy of the domaine, a few comparative tests between conventional and biodynamic agriculture, the difference in taste, and how biodynamic agriculture is creating a better vin de terroir.  And Francois tell us all this in English.

Here is a sample video of this interview. (Sound may be little tricky, plus Francois has a heavy French accent – enjoy!).

More video interview to come…

{France trip Part III} Meet the winemakers: Romain des Grottes

After interviewing Mathieu Lapierre at Domaine Lapierre (Beaujolais), we drove south from Villie-Morgon to the small town of St. Etienne des Oullieres (Beaujolais). We must have asked at least ten villagers for directions as we drove through a multitude of vineyards, but at last we found the Domaine des Grottes where a young “vigneron,” Romain des Grottes, was waiting for us. Romain grew up in the city.  He is not a typical winemaker, as we tend to think of them, and because of that Romain is able to make wine in a different way than other organic wine growers. Romain uses biodiversity.

What is biodiversity? Here is the wikipedia definition: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodiversity 
““Biological diversity” or “biodiversity” can have many interpretations. It is most commonly used to replace the more clearly defined and long established terms, species diversity and species richness. Biologists most often define biodiversity as the “totality of genes, species, and ecosystems of a region”. An advantage of this definition is that it seems to describe most circumstances and presents a unified view of the traditional three levels at which biological variety has been identified: species diversity, ecosystem diversity, genetic diversity” .

Biodiversity has been the focus of Romain’s work since he took over his grandfather’s vineyard in 2003.  Romain has transitioned all of the conventional vineyards into organic ones.  He replanted and raised the foot of the vines to improve the life of the soil and allow grasses and natural weeds to grow among them.  He made one row of vines where there was two, providing more space for the vines to develop.  He integrates bees near the fields, and as you walk through his vineyard during the spring you will find many plants and flowers living next to the grapes, such as wild strawberries and violets.

Domaine des Grottes produces an excellent natural sparking wine (petillant) called “Petit coin de Paradis,” with six degrees of alcohol (the French method of measuring alcohol proof).

Check out the video for a sample interview of Romain des Grottes (sorry, this interview is in French only).

Our next video will feature an interview with Francois Duvivier from the Domaine Marquis d’Angerville in Volnay (Burgundy).